Executive Director

The Alliance of Canadian Comprehensive Research Universities contributes to an equitable, diverse, and inclusive research and scholarship ecosystem in Canada where the contributions of researchers in small- and medium-sized universities are valued, supported, and shared to benefit society.

We are looking for a highly skilled executive director to help us fulfill our mission of advocating for research conducted at small- and medium-sized comprehensive universities across Canada.  Reporting to the Executive Committee, the executive director will coordinate the execution of our shared mission to enable discussion, collaboration, and action upon common issues important to the effective pursuit of research and scholarly activity at ACCRU Member Universities.

Objectives of this role

The primary objective of this position is to advance ACCRU’s mission. This includes:

• Advocating on behalf ACCRU members and the research they support.
• Increasing awareness of ACCRU by coordinating government and stakeholder relations with members of government, research funding agencies, and policy makers.
• Staying abreast of federal and international research funding initiatives, policies, and decisions and their potential impact on small-mid size research institutions and/or identifying roles ACCRU may play in supporting such initiatives.
• Liaising with our partner institutions to identify and encourage collaborative research initiatives amongst members and other research institutions, nationally and internationally.

Specific responsibilities include:

• Overseeing the creation and delivery of an ACCRU communications plan that will identify optimum strategies for clear communications among member institutions, governments, funding agencies, policy makers and the public at large.
• Sitting on and contributing to ACCRU sub-committee working groups.
• Preparing and delivering presentations to the ACCRU executive and to the broader ACCRU membership at bi-annual meetings
• Maintaining the ACCRU strategic plan and reporting on it periodically to membership and provide updates to the membership
• Other duties as assigned.

In order to be able to effectively work with multiple institutions, governments and external stakeholders the Executive Director must be able to speak and write in both official languages.

Qualifications

• Graduate degree – Ph.D. or Masters (preference for research based)
• Experience working in a university setting is an asset
• Research knowledge and experience. Experience could have been received through their degree and/or previous work (including work as a research administrator).
• Operational understanding and ability to quickly learn the regulations of funding agencies including, but not limited to, SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR and CFI.
• Project management experience is an asset
• Knowledge of online communications platforms and tools such as web, social media, screen recording software and learning management systems.
• Experience working successfully independently and collaboratively
• Ability to work cross-functionally with internal and external groups
• Demonstrated excellent writing skills
• Presentation skills (written and oral).
• Demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills.
• Proven ability to consider complex problems from a variety of perspective.
• Proficiency in all aspects of Office 365 and ability to master other software used by the team for training and repository building purposes.
• Ability to adapt to shifting priorities and work under pressure and to execute multiple projects while meeting strict deadlines.
• Exceptional attention to detail and excellent time management skills.
• Flexibility to work outside of normal office hours at times.
• The successful candidate must have the ability to work remotely. Travel for in-person meeting will be required at times.